Bonnet trunk or carrier.



No. 642,680. Patehted Fab. 6, I900. .1. cummmas.

BONNET TRUNK 0B CARRIER.

(Application filed Dec. 8, 1898.) (No Model.)

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NITED STATES JOSIAH CUMMINGS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BONNET TRUNK OR CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,680, dated February6, 1900.

Application filed December 8, 1898. Serial No. 698,598. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSIAH CUMMINGS, of Boston, countyof Suffolk, Stateof Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvementin Bonnet Trunks orCarriers, of which the following description,in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

This invention has for its object the production ofabonnet trunk orcarrier adapted to support a series of trimmed bonnets, it beingespecially advantageous for traveling salesmen and for ladies requiringa large number of bonnets.

My improved trunk is composed of a bottom piece having hinged wings ateach edge, some of the'said wings being double-jointed, and, as I haveillustrated my invention, each wing has a plurality of bonnet holders orforms.

When the trunk is opened, the wings and bottom piece may be laid outfiat, and when closed the wings are provided with means or deviceswhereby they look each otherin place, and the trunk when closed is, inthis instance of my invention, shown as provided with a cover which actsas a keeper to retain'the shut-up trunk in traveling position.

Figure 1, in front elevation. represents a bonnet-trunk embodyingmy'invention, the same being closed in position for traveling. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section thereof, one of the forms or holders havingapplied to it a trimmed bonnet. Fig. 3 shows the trunk opened and spreadout to exhibit its contents, and Fig. 4 is a detail to be referred to.

My improved trunk A consists, essentially, of a bottom piece a, twohinged side wings a, and two hinged end wings a the end wings havingsupplemental hinged extensions a The wings a are hinged to the bottompiece a by, as herein shown, leather or other flexible strips 1),suitably attached to the said bottom piece and wings, which may be ofleatherboard or other usual thin material, having sufficient stiffnessto stand up when formed into a trunk, the strip being united to thewings and .bottom plate by, as herein shown, rivets b. The end wings aare united to the bottom piece by means of other suitable flexiblestrips of leather or other material b united thereto in the mannerdescribed or by bonnet or hat f.

other usual or suitable means. The extensions a of the wings a areunited to the said wings by means of suitable leather or other flexiblestrips or hinge portions 11 (shown in Fig. 2,) and the ends 0 of theextensions a are in practice provided with asuitable strapand-bucklecontrivance, (shown at (Z, Fig. 2,) the strap being upon one extensionand the buckle upon the other extension.

Fig. 3 shows the trunk opened, and it will be noticed that the bottompiece and the wings a eachhave two suitable holders or forms (2 and thatthe end wings and their connected extensions each have suitable likeholders or forms, one of the said forms in Figs. 2 and 3 having appliedto it a trimmed (Represented by dotted lines.) Vhen the open front(represented in Fig. 3) is closed, it must be held rigidly and stiff inits closed position, and to provide for this I have provided holdingmeans at the meeting ends or edges of the wings. As herein shown, theholding means consists of grooves 9, formed at the opposite edges of theend wings and their extensions, said grooves being continuous when thetrunk is laid out fiat, it acting to receive in it the edges h h of theside wings a when the latter are set up at right angles to the bottompiece a. The groove in the end wing a fits the edge h of the side winga,while the continuation of the groove in the extension a from said endwing overlap each, respectively, a part of the edge h of the said wing.

To retain the closed trunk in position for traveling and add strengthand stiffness to the same, I apply to it a cover at and I provide theend wings a one with a strap m,

having a buckle m and the other with a strapv m to engage said buckle,as represented in Fig. 1. I further provide locking means to retain theend wings and the side wings in position firmly each with relation tothe other when the trunk is closed, said locking means consisting, asherein represented, essentially, of two straps a a, one having ametallic loop or eye of and the other a metallic eye-engaging device, asn but instead of this particular locking means I may employ any otherusual or suitable devices capable of being easily locked and disengaged.

. In the production of the grooves g in Fig.

4 I have shown a portion of one wing a The edge of the wing is bentupwardly substantially at right angles to the wing, as at a, and insidethe said edges I apply by suitable rivets p a flanged piece 13',preferably of leather-board, the material used in making the end wing;but instead, if desired, an angle iron or other suitable material may beused; but leather-board is the lighter and cheaper and answers thepurposes.

By the term leather-board I mean any of the compounds, so called, whichare as substantially rigid and preferably capable of be ing bent toassume desired shapes.

The groove g referred to is the space between the upturned flange a anda part of the flange-strip p, and into this groove enters, as shown inFig. 4:, the side wing or.

The holders 6 have suitable ears e to receive nails by which to fastenthem in place.-

The whole of the interior of the trunk may have applied to it a clothlining 0', (partially shown in Fig. 3,) of cotton, silk, or any otherusual lining material.

' The trunk shown is adapted to hold ten trimmed bonnets; but thisnumber may be more or less according to the size of the trunk.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A device of the class specified, consisting of a bottom, side and endwings hinged thereto and arranged in pairs, the respective members ofthe pairs being of substantially duplicate form, and the end wings ofeach consisting of two hinged parts, and the innermost parts of said endwings being of substantially the same height as the side wings,

while the outermost parts are adapted to lap over and close the upperside of the device, and both parts of the end wings having alinedgrooves, those grooves in the innermost parts being adapted to receivethe opposite edges of the side wings, while the grooves in the outermostsections of said wings are adapted to receive the upper edges of theside wings when the box is in its closed condition.

2. A device of the class specified, consisting of a bottom, side and endwings hinged thereto and arranged in pairs, the respective members ofthe pairs being of substantially duplicate form, and the end wings ofeach consisting of two hinged parts, and the innermost parts of said endwings being of substantially the same height as the side wings, whilethe outermost parts are adapted to lap over and close the upper side ofthe device, and both parts of the end wings having alined grooves, thosegrooves in the innermost parts being adapted to receive the oppositeedges of the side wings, while the grooves in the outermost sections ofsaid wings are adapted to receive the upper edges of the side wings whenthe box is in its closed condition, means uniting the adjacent ends ofthe outermost sections of the two-part end wings when the device is inclosed form, a cover, and means for rigidly securing the cover in place.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSIAH CUMMINGS.

Witnesses: I

GEO. W. GREGORY, EMMA J. BENNETT.

